Could Aitken 'Do A Roeder?'

Former Aston Villa manager John Gregory has said that current caretaker boss Roy Aitken, formerly David O'Leary's assistant, could do the same as Glenn Roeder did at Newcastle.

Roeder took over from Graeme Souness temporarily and did such a good job he was taken on permanently.

Gregory told his mates at Sky!

'He's the man in charge at the moment, so he'll get the opportunity and could well start the season. As we saw with Glenn Roeder, he came in and totally transformed the team with his tinkering and coaching methods, and they find themselves in the UEFA Cup.'

'Who says Roy Aitken cannot do the same at Villa?'

He also says he thinks the job is 'a great opportunity for someone to go in there and revitalise the club - it needs a good kick up the backside. I hope someone goes in there and gets them where they should be.'

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Of course I'd rather have O'Neil but I must say, as been as I always thought that Aitkin was O'Leary's lacky, Ive been very (positively) surprized. I like his positive attitude, he's talking the players and team up and they appear to be responding. I don't know if he has the knowledge but at least he appears to have the right attitude, talking about the high quality players and giving them beleif in themselves. On the official website he is quoted as saying, "I asked the players to work hard, be reliable and help each other out. They did that and the quality then came through." and then later, "When you get that work ethic tied in with the quality that I know we have here, you get a 5-0 performance, so I was pleased for the boys." Did O'Leary ever say anything like that? And to cap it all, he's right!!!! The simple fact is that Aston Villa have not been playing as a team, not showing work ethics, passion or desire. When they do this their quality will show. Well done Roy Aitkin and for my money, if we can't get one of the big names we want, we could do alot worse based on the showing so far. That said, sill rather have O'Neil or Curbs (or for my money, the newly available Tom Nordlie- check out his record. His attitude is great too and his teams play attractive and effective football)

He is already experienced as a manager, he was the manager of Aberdeen for 2 seasons and managed to win the Scottish League Cup during that time. I know that Aberdeen is not the world's biggest club but hey, that's where Ferguson learned his trade too, so it can't be all bad there.

Compared to Roeder, Roy is at a disadvantage in that its pre-season, compared to the premiership programme, which is when Roeder took over. Winning a string of premiership games would obviously catch Ellis' eye, whereas winning the pre-season friendlies, even with positive performances, doesnt really convey the same message of success. Give RA his due though. At these troubled times he seems to have pulled the lads together, and as of right now, things on the playing side look a little bit brighter than they did a week or so back.

To be honest, I would rather have seen Sid given the chance. As much as Aitken has been better than O'Dreary and the players have seemed to respond to him, he is not the big name we need to galvanise the club. As I said, Sid given the caretakers role and then assistant to the new manager